Prosecutors from Abu Dhabi recently revealed that British-German teacher Christian Wilke-Breitsameter was jailed for possession of child porn, contrary to reports earlier that he was penalized for ‘electronic insult’.

Christian, who was arrested in the UAE in April last year, possessed more than 300 child pornography pictures on his cell phone and computer. He confessed downloading this material through GigaTribe, a website that is not illegal but facilitates file-sharing within closed groups.

The 39-year-old used to teach at a reputed private institution in Al Ain when the police were informed that he possessed the pornographic material and was distributing it.

Formerly employed in the Duchess of Cambridge’s old school in the UK, Christian was wrongly in news earlier this month for issuing an insult on social media.

‘Electronic insult’ is a punishable offence in the in UAE; it includes hate speech, blasphemy, and discrimination based on colour, caste, religion, doctrine, creed, race, or ethnic origin.

The charge of indulging in child pornography can mean severe punishment for Christian, as downloading and viewing child pornography is considered is taken very seriously in UAE, like in many other countries.

Jailed in December 2017 for a year and fined Dh 50,000, the teacher will be deported once he completes prison term. Please note that punishments under child prosecution laws in the UAE can be as harsh as 10 years in prison and a Dh1 million fine.

Christian is not the first expat teacher in the UAE to have been convicted for sexual interest in children.

In February 2018, William Ball, a music teacher at the Swiss International Scientific School in Dubai was arrested in Florida on charges of paedophilia. Ball reportedly travelled from Dubai to Florida, to ‘have sex with a seven-year-old girl he had solicited online’.

In September 2017, a 46-year-old Filipino teacher from a school in Al Twar Dubai was caught for sexually harassing an 11-year-old girl, and asking for her indecent pictures on Whatsapp.